Frédéric Poux has been appointed as board chairman of Sport 2000 France, it was announced last month by Activa Capital, after a dispute between the cooperative for the members of Sport 2000 France and the French investment firm that owns a majority stake in the buying group.
Poux was the chairman and chief executive of Alain Afflelou, a leading French eyewear retailer that operates mainly on a franchising mode, for about six years until last February, and he had been with Afflelou since 1996. Activa said that his assignment is meant to ensure continued growth, to reinforce governance at Sport 2000 France and to pursue the implementation of its strategic development. Stéphane Solinski remains general manager of Sport 2000 France.
As previously reported, Activa owns 52 percent in the buying group, while the remaining stake of 48 percent is held by the cooperative of its retail members. In previous years, Activa had left five of the eight seats on the board to the cooperative. But the board was entirely reshuffled in July, amid the failure of an intended sale of Activa's stake to the cooperative. The offer had been agreed in June, but members of the cooperative rejected the proposed deal at their general assembly in July. Their president, Thierry Lavigne, said that this was due to a second and reduced valuation by Deloitte. Activa then decided to take three seats on a reduced board of five members, and to appoint an independent chairman.
The two other seats were offered to the cooperative, which decided not to take them up and to file for summary proceedings. They claimed that the overhaul of the board was motivated by a disagreement about financial targets. Lavigne noted that both sides had agreed to give priority to free cash flow, in order to enable Sport 2000 France to reimburse sizeable debts.
Last month, the cooperative submitted a fresh and reduced offer for the takeover of Activa Capital's stake. Lavigne said it has obtained firm bank financing for the offer and it is aiming to hold another general assembly by the end of September, in order to secure the members' approval.
The court in Evry is scheduled to decide on the proceedings filed by the cooperative on Wednesday, Sept. 12, Lavigne said. Activa Capital previously claimed that the changes in the board had been triggered by a breach of the June agreement. This stipulated that the board's former chairman, Christophe Mostaert, who is a retail member of Sport 2000 France, would remain in place for at least four years. The cooperative had indeed decided that Mostaert should swap functions with Lavigne, but he argued that this was for practical reasons and did not contravene the June agreement.
